The union that represents IRS workers is ramping up a public campaign in hopes of convincing voters that the loss of 4,000 tax collectors and agents would be bad for government services that they depend on. Congressional appropriators have proposed cutting the division's budget by $450 million-to-$600 million.

United against Barack Obama, Senate Republicans voted Tuesday night to kill the jobs package the president had spent weeks campaigning for across the country, a stinging loss at the hands of lawmakers opposed to stimulus-style spending and a tax increase on the very wealthy.

Bill Bransford, a partner with Shaw, Bransford and Roth, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris to discuss he legal rationale behind the decision and whether it sets a new legal precedent.